Lance Goes to Blueport
by Van Bishup
Summary: Lance takes on John Blue, a mayor who has set up his own Elite Four without permission. A character study on Dragon Master Lance of the Indigo League.
1. Chapter 1

This fanfiction is based of a role-play that do with my sister and younger cousin. In this role-play, a new region called Vestige has been discovered. It has no native inhabitants and no new pokemon. People from other regions looking for a fresh start have moved there. This area is made up of factions, with the port city of Blueport being the most prosperous, followed by Black Territory, because they make all the power.

In this game, the events of Ruby and Sapphire happened about twenty years before the events of Red and Blue. Red and Blue were followed by Gold and Silver, all of which was resolved without the titular character. Between Red and Blue and Gold and Silver, Kanto rejected the Elite Four and the Police, lead by Lt. Surge, took over in the name of peace, prosperity, and the final eradication of Team Rocket. They hold the populace under strict laws and propaganda.

The events of Diamond and Pearl are ongoing. Team Plasma is established, and they have bombed the lakes, but the titular character is not there to stop them.

The events of Black/Black 2 and White/White 2 have concluded about two years ago.

The OC Tracey is actually May from Ruby and Sapphire, but when I played through my Sapphire, Tracey was her name and writing "May" feels wrong. Tracey married Steven Stone.

Taiga is my cousin's OC.

This fanfiction is my attempt to understand Lance's character well enough to play him convincingly. Having only encountered the Dragon Master in the video games, his real personality doesn't really shine through.

This is also based on the presumption that when Lance had Dragonite use Hyper Beam on that Rocket Grunt, it was with full knowledge that it would kill the Grunt. This fanfiction assumes that the Grunt died. I wondered, what would cause a man to murder someone that he did not have to?

Bishup.

Chapter One

Lance was not happy. He was off the boat before it even docked properly. He heard Tracey's gasp and Wallace's panicked "careful now," but they did not deter him. The Royal Unova had delayed them enough. Steven had been reluctant to dock with the giant cruise ship so close, but no one denied Lance. Thus the Precious Gem was brought to bay and Lance, the dragon-master, the Indigo League champion, and the unquestioned President of the Champions, stepped onto the docks of Blueport, the gateway to the Vestige Region.

It stank like fish and the salt sea air. He disliked it immediately. He strode up the dock, mindful of the way his cape billowed in the wind. He cut an impressive figure, he knew it. This was pure intimidation. Vacationers scattered, and even the tough sea men wanted nothing to do with him.

One man did not move. He stared down the tempestuous champion with a look of disdain that he did not bother to hide. He was alone and leaned heavily on a driftwood cane, but the silent challenge that he issued made his identity unmistakable. This man considered himself this city's ultimate, its first and final line of defense. This was his territory, and Lance was unwelcome.

"John Blue," Lance said. He stopped at challenge distance, his cape whipping behind him.

"Welcome to Blueport, Champion," John Blue replied. His tone was anything but welcoming. "What brings you so far away from where you should be?"

"Your little tournament," Lance said. His voice was calm, but his arms were crossed and he caressed Dragonite's pokéball. "You've overstepped your bounds."

"You aren't exactly in your jurisdiction, matey. There's no Team Rocket to bust here." John Blue said. He looked Lance in the eye, no fear, but the old hands tightened on his cane.

"Lance!" Wallace called out. The Hoenn League champion raced up to Lance. His cap had blown off and his light cape was no match for the heavy wind.

For the umpteenth time, Lance felt disgust at the sight of the Water-type specialist. He was too soft to inspire the awe that a Champion should. He spent too much time preening in the mirror. The wind had ruined his carefully styled hair and picked viciously at his fancy clothes. He looked frazzled, and Lance liked him better this way.

"You should have waited for the rest of us," Wallace huffed. "This is a group effort after all."

John Blue shifted warily, something Lance did not miss. Was this upstart impressed by numbers, then? Lance felt the little respect he had accorded the man ebb. A true trainer did not fear something so insubstantial. Nothing about Wallace should inspire unease in his man, when he seemed so unafraid of Lance.

"So, you brought a friend. Doesn't matter. He has no power here, either. You are wasting your time," John Blue said. "Vestige is free of your little power play, like Kanto is now."

Lance grit his teeth and pressed the mechanism on Dragonite's pokéball. How dare this worthless pretender mention Kanto to him! He would show John Blue why he was the most feared Champion in all the Leagues.

"Kanto is anything but free," Cynthia said. Her sure voice stayed Lance's hand.

"Yeah! You can't just make an Elite Four and not expect us to show up!" Iris piped up.

The disgust Lance felt for Wallace paled in comparison to the absolute horror that Iris inspired. How dare her parents let her parade around in that costume! It was beneath all dignity. The horrid pink dress did not even fit the child!

He himself had approved the motion to allow her to replace Alder. Her battle skills qualified her, but he would never have approved if he had seen her costume. A Champion should inspire awe. Iris brought to mind only ridicule.

Lance did not believe in intimidation by numbers, one of the reasons he had skipped the boat early, so that he and Blue could take each other's measure; however, he wished that it was the hulking, physically impressive Alder at his side instead of this costumed toddler.

"Didn't realize how many of the Championships went to women nowadays. You have a regular harem here, don't you?" Blue said. Wallace hissed, and Blue smirked. "One of you has a really mouthy kid."

"I am not a kid!" Iris protested.

"I am not a woman," Wallace said snippily.

"Enough!" Lance roared.

The others fell silent at the dragon master's command. Lance was seething. This was the combined might of the Elite Four, made light of by one upstart mayor of a little city on a divided continent? It was maddening. The dock was filled with people, citizens and tourists alike. Some of these people may even have been his own subjects, Johtens and Kantens. This little game had gone on long enough. He mastered his rage using techniques taught to him at the Dragon's Den. This allowed him to speak in a calm, measured voice.

"This is not the sort of discussion to have on a public dock. We will discuss this further in private," Lance said.

"Is that so? Well, I make a point of transparency here in Blueport. We're a free town on a free continent," Blue said. He drew himself up and centered his cane with a bang.

"He's big like grandpa," Iris whispered.

Lance sighed. Yes, the mayor of Blueport was a big man. Tanned and weathered, it looked like he still went out and fished for a living. Age had taken some of his weight, and it had also turned his hair grey, but he still looked like a strong man. Lance longed keenly for Bruno, Chuck, or Crasher Wake even. He would rather have come alone, but his companions could at least do him the decency of looking like champions.

"Mayor Blue, we did not come here to publicly debate. With your permission, we would like to continue this conversation somewhere where it can be given proper weight," Cynthia said.

Of all of them, she was the one that he was proud to have by his side. Her eloquence cut to the heart of the matter in a way his anger could not. Blue was making him angry. People did what Lance told them to do. That was why he was President of the Champions, but Blue seemed immune. The mayor turned to Cynthia with a smirk on his face.

"I've lived on ships and docks my whole life. Nothing on earth can be given more weight than words witnessed by the big, blue sea," Blue said. "Say what you will but I..."

Blue faltered. He paled and rocked back a step. His gaze was fixed on something behind them. Lance looked, but it was only Steven and Tracey. They had finished mooring the boat and were standing quietly behind the group.

"Hello. Is this the welcoming committee?" Steven asked.

John Blue nodded wordlessly. He looked obviously uneasy and ashen beneath his tan.

"Let's get out of this wind, then," Tracey said. She clung to Steven's arm with one hand and held her sailing hat down with the other. Blue visibly flinched when she looked at him. He reached for something on his head, but there was nothing there. He tried to disguise the gesture as a scratch, but Lance did not miss a thing. The Stones made this bold, crass man uncomfortable. This was an advantage.

"Take us to your office," Lance ordered.

Blue looked unhappy, but he complied and limped up the docks toward the city.

"Well, this is Champion business. Tracey and I will go settle the lodgings," Steven said.

"No," Lance said shortly. "I want you two to stay with us."

"Lance, be reasonable. Neither Steven nor I are Champions anymore. It wouldn't be right for us to come. Besides, my daughter is in this city, and Steven and I have been dying to see our little girl," Tracey said. Steven nodded.

Lance fixed them with his commanding look, but Steven and Tracey had been tough champions in their time and they refused to be intimidated. Cynthia touched Lance's arm.

"Let it go," she said. "The discussion is moving indoors, and we are being left behind."

It was true. Wallace and Iris were following Blue. With one last glower in the direction of the stubborn Stones, Lance allowed himself to be led away. He stopped for a moment. He had seen a glimpse of a familiar cap, but it was gone, vanished among the press.

"This would be a good place for him to hide," Lance mused, but he did not linger long. Cynthia would not wait for him, and he had to put John Blue in his place.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"This is not acceptable!" Lance yelled, slamming his hands down on Blue's desk.

"My decision stands. I would like to see you try to stop me!" Blue replied, mirroring Lance's gesture.

"Mayor Blue, you have to understand. The Elite Four are more than a trainer's greatest challenge. They are the ultimate authority for their entire region," Cynthia explained patiently. Her calmness was a canker on Lance's frayed nerves.

"Vestige is not yet united. Factions here are at open war. You yourself, sir, pay tribute to another," Wallace put in.

"Not to mention all the gates around here. This place is a prison," Iris added.

"Blueport pays tribute to no one," Blue ground out. "We are the gateway to Vestige. We are the only open port this side of the Echo Range, and we are open year-round. Don't get the power bill confused with a tribute. Even that will be history soon, once the sea-powered plant is up and running. Blueport is the most successful, populous city in Vestige."

"But it remains entrenched in Blue Province," Cynthia said. "Mayor Blue, this attitude is why we cannot permit you to maintain an Elite Four."

"You don't have the right to permit me to do anything! Vestige is the great frontier. People come here to be free, to escape those who limit them. If I want to have an Elite Four then, by Kyogre, I will have an Elite Four!" Blue snapped.

"You aren't listening!" Iris said. She stomped her foot in irritation. "We aren't just for trainers! We act for the entire region. To do that, we have to have the permission of that entire region. We have to have the power to set up gyms, and to act everywhere!"

"In every city, every town. There can be no barriers. Provinces are not acceptable," Wallace said.

"I know what you're doing," Lance said quietly. "I can see your little power-play. If you control the Elite Four, you control the gyms, and you control the flood of trainers into the region. It's a base bullying tactic. We will not allow you to cowl the continent in our name."

"To the trench with all of you!" Blue bellowed. "What do you want from me? You want unity? You want no boundaries? Well, that's what I'm doing! Why shouldn't I unite the Provinces? No one else is. No one else can. Blueport has a stranglehold on this continent. There is no other port. I control what goes in and out. I control who gets what when. You can't change that. You can't stop me!"

Lance bristled. Blue's statements sounded all too much like the echoes of Rocket executives that he worked actively to suppress. It was men like Blue who could go on to commit terrible crimes against pokémon and humanity, men who had lost their own sense of scale and restraint, and were now driven only to reach their goals. Lance clutched Dragonite's pokéball. There was an easy way to end this.

"Mayor Blue, we have made our position clear. Vestige must be united before it can receive the honor of an Elite Four. We will not allow you to force unity like this. We can and we will oppose you," Cynthia said. She touched Lance's arm gently, but it was a restraining gesture.

"I don't have to do a thing you tell me," Blue said. "I don't give a flying Magicarp about your opinion."

"Disband your Faux Four, or face our wrath," Lance said. "I warn you, the League Champions are a force that will bring your reckoning."

"I refuse," Blue said. He sat down heavily in his seat. He indicated the door with his cane. "Know this, I'd kick you out if I could; however, it's not your power that keeps me from doing that. If Blueport evicted the League Champions, it would go badly for us in the press. You'll be accorded every courtesy while you're here, but it better not be for long."

"Sir, you are making an incredible error," Wallace started.

"Mayor Blue, please be reasonable," Cynthia implored.

"So be it. This interview is over," Lance said.

The others stared in shock as Lance rose to his feet. Lance would have been amused if he was not so angry, but now his anger burned cold. He could see that talk would not sway the Mayor of Blueport. It would take action, and that was fine with Lance. Action was a language that he understood better.

"Know this. By the end of the week, you won't have a trainer to stand by you," Lance said, voice as chill as Froslass breath.

John Blue only glared after him as he and the other champions left.

"Lance, that could have been handled better," Cynthia chided.

"Words are not going to sway him, Cynthia. He wants war. He's issued his challenge, and I will answer it," Lance said.

"Slow down, now. What are you going to do?" Wallace asked.

"I will dismember his army. I will defeat every one of the Elite that he has raised. They will feel the wrath of my displeasure, and they will disband. As I said, by the end of the week, there won't be a trainer that will stand by him," Lance said.

The other champions stared at him, Cynthia with reluctant understanding, Wallace with shock, and Iris with a disturbed look in her big childish eyes.

"You need to be careful, Lance," she said. "When you talk like that, you get a mean look in your eye. People might not know you're the good guy."

Lance did not dignify her with an answer. He turned to Cynthia.

"I need you to find out who won the tournament. I need their names, and I need their current addresses. Take Wallace with you. I am going to look around town, especially at the new power plant. Something's odd about Blue, and I want to find out what it is."

"So, I'm going with you, then?" Iris asked.

"No. You're going to the hotel," Lance said. "I work better alone."

The little girl looked crestfallen for a moment, but she revived quickly.

"I'm a champion too! You can't just shove me to the side!" she snapped. "I am well-passed the age of naps, Mister Lance."

"Then go shopping, go battling, go play. It doesn't matter to me, but you are not accompanying me," Lance said.

"Two dragon masters are better than one, I would think," Wallace said silkily. "An extra set of eyes may catch what you miss."

"I don't need..." Lance growled.

"I agree with Wallace," Cynthia said. "Mayor Blue has made his intentions clear. It is best that we do so as well. Traveling together is a show of strength and unity. Iris will be a good complement to you, Lance."

Lance glared, but he was hemmed in on all sides. He severely missed Alder.

"Fine," he managed. "Let's be on our way."

"We will meet up at the hotel at ten o'clock," Wallace said. "Then we can go over our findings. Is everyone agreed?"

There was a chorus of "yes." Lance only nodded. He would come back when he was ready, and not before then. With Iris tagging after him, he pressed into the streets of Blueport.


	3. Chapter 3: The End

Chapter Three

"So, see anything suspicious yet?" Iris asked. She yawned.

Lance ignored her as he had for the better part of two hours. He had lost control of his temper twice today. He did not intend to allow it to happen again.

He was currently in the visitor center for the new Blueport Power Plant. It was passed closing time, but no one would dare kick Lance out. The oddly dressed security and the curator hovered, but Lance was well beyond the power of their intimidation. He read all the offered information, and examined every display. This kind of detective work was something he enjoyed. These people were trying to hide something from him, and he had to Furret it out.

Iris, on the other hand, was tired. Despite her protests, she was only a kid. The ride here had tired her, the confrontation with Blue had briefly boosted her flagging energy, but the investigation of the town had sapped whatever energy she had left. She was practically asleep on her feet, staring glassy-eyed at the cases.

"You need to go to the hotel," Lance said.

"I'm sticking with you," the brat said peevishly.

Lance did not press. He could force her to leave, but she would only tell tales to Cynthia. He was not in the mood for Sinnoh Champion's piercing words. She was one of the few that could make him feel guilty. That was a difficult feat, after all his years of policing two continents. Not much affected him anymore. He was constantly under siege, first by Giovanni, and now by the traitorous Lt. Surge, now the "President" of Kanto. He was at war and he made the decisions that war required of him. It was agony at first, but worse were the consequences of failing to act. Now he was hardened. Now he was sure, strong.

Cynthia was different. She was wise beyond her years, naturally blessed with the ability to remain cool in any situation. She saw things differently than he did. She should. Sinnoh was peaceful. She spent her days bringing medicine to sick Psyduck and studying ancient legends in the Canalave Library. She was not at war. He knew he should disregard her advice, but he could not bring himself to. When she spoke, she made him believe she was right. Even if it was just for a moment, that moment was all it took for the doubt to seep in and the guilt to rise to the surface.

Then, sometimes she agreed with him, and that threw him right off.

Iris prodded him. He looked down at the annoying puff princess. He did not bother to hide his displeasure. Cynthia had called for a show of solidarity. That did not mean he had to encourage the brat.

"Mister Lance, I don't think you were listening," the little girl whined.

"I wasn't," Lance said.

Iris bristled.

"You are a meanie," she said. "I just wanted to ask about those bad stories that were on the news."

Lance said nothing. Iris watched him, and the look in her eyes made him feel wary. She was a smart girl, no matter how stupid her dresses were.

"Maybe you don't know, Mister Lance, but it was a big deal in Unova. It was about this girl who took the Pokémon League Challenge. She was from Kanto, and she lost. They said it was foul play. They said Koga poisoned her pokémon so bad that she never stood a chance because she was Kanten, and that they wanted to teach her a lesson. They said that it was punishment, because Kanto rebelled. That's what they said," Iris said.

The wind diagram Lance was looking at blurred before his eyes. He clenched his fist and willed himself to remain calm.

"The news told you all that?" he asked as pleasantly as he could. He must have failed, because Iris looked mildly alarmed.

"Well, kinda. It was a big deal. 'Big League Bigotry' was what they called it. They wanted to interview me about it, but we had Marshall do it, 'cause he's got a better camera presence, at least that's what Brycen said. Lance, it's not true, is it?"

"What are you asking me?" Lance said as delicately as he could. The banked rage inside him sparked and started to burn.

"Did you really punish that girl, 'cause she was Kanten?" Iris asked.

He had to give her credit. The girl had guts, coming out and asking him straight. His admiration was short lived, though. How dare she even suspect…!

"Do you think I would?" Lance asked.

"At first I didn't think so. You're a champion, and we don't do that. But now, seeing you, I don't know. You're mean, Mister Lance. You got a Zebrastrika's temper, too, and I bet you hold a grudge like a Banette. I don't know, that's why I'm asking," she said.

She was honest. There was no malice in the question. She really wanted to know. That did not make him any less angry.

"Are you saying that I went back on my vows? Do you think I sacrificed my honor for a moment of petty revenge? No!" He slammed his fist into the wall. "I would never do such a thing. I am a champion, but I am also a graduate of the Dragon's Den. I do not break my word for anything, and I do not hold grudges. Don't think that I haven't heard about the media Blitzle that went on over that girl's defeat. Kanto had a Tauros when she lost. She was the first challenger they'd failed to stop for three years. Taiga had all her Kanten gym badges, a rare enough sight. She was air dropped at the League gates, with enough security to man a prison transfer. They weren't going to let her get away. We allowed her to circumvent Victory Road. With the Police around, it would not have been a true challenge. She climbed the steps as others have and she fought the same fights that they have, in the order that we have held to for decades. The media put out that we made her fight Koga last, so that he would poison all her pokémon and make them weak, so I could toy with her, so that I could lord over my wayward subjects just how much power I still hold, even with their defiance."

Iris did not look so sure of herself now. She stared up at Lamce with big, frightened eyes. He smiled. Let the little brat suffer. She should learn not to ask questions that she did not want the answers to.

"I watched. We all did, because we all felt for her; however, we all saw her fatal flaw. She didn't have a balanced team. Only her fire pokémon was any good. Everything else had been sorely neglected. Koga gave her trouble, because that's how he operates. Bruno almost crushed her with his Onix, but she still powered through. I expected Karen to put an end to her, but she threw the match."

Iris gasped. It was satisfying to reveal that. Karen had gone back on her word to pander to the upstart Kantens. She should have been discharged then, but Will would have left with her. Koga already wavered, because Kanto was his home. Dissention in the League would have driven him back to his daughter, and over to the side of Surge. Lance could not risk that, so he had to let Karen slide.

"She came to me, and I crushed her. Dragons are proof against fire. After that, the rest of her team splintered. I told her. I told her that she should never have come to the League, and I told her that she wasn't a true trainer. She'd been given the same chance others have had since the League began. It is not our fault she wasted it.

It's Surge's fault! He isn't watching the gyms. He's letting them get complacent, and why shouldn't they? Challengers are few and far between. Between the taxes and the paperwork, not to mention the harsh catching regulations, oppressive curfews, and checkpoints, no one can take the Challenge anymore. Kanto is starving its talent. Misty should have stopped her, but she probably never spends time in her gym anymore. I've heard rumors she just gives her badge away without a battle. Blaine would have stopped her. He's a fire type specialist. He could have wrangled her ace and dismantled her team as well, but I hear that he is no longer a leader, because he no longer has a city. Something else Surge hasn't taken care of yet.

He sits in his capital in Saffron City and smiles over the powerless monorail. He oppresses all Kantens in the name of safety and security from the evil Team Rocket. But Rocket flourishes, smuggling people out from under his nose. He chokes growth and stunts potential for both trainer and pokémon alike. He's worse than Team Rocket, but his stupid, willing slaves follow him and prevent me from ending him, the same way you end any danger that threatens what you are sworn to protect."

Lance's hand went automatically to Dragonite's pokéball. It was well known what had happened to that Rocket grunt all those years ago, but Iris's eyes could not get any wider. Instead, the little baby was crying.

"Not all evil kindly goes mad, or turns good. Most of it requires that someone put a sudden, final end to the menace. Taiga was Surge's victim. I was only her judge, and one day I will execute justice on Surge for her and the others whose dreams he's crushed. For now though, you need to go back to the hotel. I will make sure you get there."

Lance gripped the young dragon trainer's shoulder and steered her out of the exhibit. The guards and curator were glad to see the back of them.

Lance was not sure how to feel. He lost his temper again, and revealed information in the process. It did not feel bad, though. He supposed this was what people called confiding in another, but he would never have thought it would be a little girl!

It was after dark, but the silhouette of the menacing dragon Champion was enough to ward off any trouble. Iris was quiet as they walked the streets. She remained so until they arrived at the door of her room. She looked at Lance when he took his hand off her shoulder. The tears on her cheeks had dried, but her eyes were still red.

"Mister Lance..." she said. For a moment, Lance was afraid she would start crying again, but instead she threw her arms around him in a hug. The suddenness put Lance off balance and it was an effort to relax. He had no idea what to do with her now. It was incredibly awkward, but the girl did not seem to mind. Eventually she pulled away and Lance noted fresh tears on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Mister Lance. I'm sorry you have to be like this. I don't think you're a meanie, not a real one, anyway. You just have to pretend so much that it's hard to remember to stop, but you got to remember Mister Lance, or else you'll end up like every other bad guy you work so hard to stop. And that would be a big mistake," she said.

Lance stared in astonishment before pulling away, leaving her standing alone in the hall.

It was too much! To be made to feel guilty by one little girl!


End file.
